Despite political differences, the government has made no bones about defending the rights of its elected chief minister.
The Congress and the BJP may be on opposite sides of the political divide, but when it came to outsiders making trouble for Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi of the BJP, the government was quick to take up his cause.
Despite political differences, the government has made no bones about defending the rights of its elected chief minister.
The ministry of external affairs (MEA) has issued a demarche to the European Union (EU) following reports that after the Gujarat riots in 2002, Modi was barred from travelling to EU countries. During its previous term at the Centre, the UPA government had protested the EU decision.
The demarche was handed over to EU’s ambassador in India Daniele Smadja earlier this year.
EU explained that there was no such ban in place now and the chief minister was welcome. India’s embassy in Brussels also reported that Modi was no more banned there.
Hardly had this controversy died down when two German MPs took a swipe at the Gujarat chief minister while on a visit to India. The lawmakers reportedly justified EU’s earlier decision of not granting a visa to Modi by comparing him to Adolf Hitler in a meeting on April 8.
Immediately, a letter on the issue from Modi’s office went to the prime minister who promptly asked MEA to take up the matter.
This led to the Germans clarifying that the two lawmakers were not part of any official delegation and were on a personal tour.
MEA is investigating whether the MPs travelled on a tourist visa.
The German embassy, which assured a furious BJP delegation on April 12 that it would convey the party’s concern to the Bundestag, parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany. The embassy, however, denied allegations that its MPs compared Modi to Hitler.
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